Rog Phillips

“ He wouldn't believe me when I told him I didn't know anything about it."
"Was his name Hugo Fairchild?" Lin asked.
"Yes!"
"I see it all now," Lin said grimly. "Your fate was written on that slip of paper too."
"My fate?" Dorothy said, bewildered.
"And he made us get well so we would have to leave the hospital," Lin went on. "When we leave he'll get us and take it away from me."
Dorothy laughed nervously. "Don't leave it there. I think I'm really insane. The things that are happening can't happen. That's a good test of insanity isn't it?"
"Don't be silly," Lin said. ”

“ When he straightened he fixed his eyes on Dorothy's face.
"Dorothy," he said, "maybe nothing can stop him from getting that paper back soon. It may be hours or days. But—would you marry me and make the most of it until...?"
She began twisting her fingers together nervously. "I—I don't know what to say," she hesitated. "It seems so wrong in a way. I don't mean wrong. Unfair. That's it. Unfair to—to both of us. Like we were doing this whether we love each other or not. It doesn't give whatever love we could have had a chance."
Lin stared at her a moment. ”

“ And the fingers continued their rapid movement over the typewriter keyboard.
Incredulously Lin reached out and tried to remove the skullcap. It wouldn't budge, and was as unyieldingly hard as the face.
"A robot!" The exclamation escaped Lin's lips in a hoarse whisper. "Or—a statue?"
In desperation he seized one of the man's arms at the elbow and tried to interrupt the smooth flow of movement. All his strength couldn't vary the motion of that arm enough to cause a finger to miss a key on the typewriter.
"Not a millionth of an inch of play in the joints!" ”

“ Hugo Fairchild was standing on the sidewalk watching the entrance of the hospital.
"You should stay in bed."
Lin whirled at the sound of the voice, then relaxed with a relieved sigh. It was the doctor.
"Okay, doc," he growled. He went and sat on the edge of the bed.
A twisted smile curved the doctor's lips. "You know," he said, "you aren't the only miracle that happened in this hospital today."
Lin blinked. "Don't tell me Dorothy Lake, the girl in that other car, is the other one!"
"How did you know?" the doctor said. "Yes, it was she. Five fractured ribs and a broken right arm. ”

“ Phil and Lin winked at each other. Then Phil said, "Let's suppose that's true for the moment. Who does the writing?"
Jerry shrugged. "What difference would that make? There's the old tale of the Fates as weavers, weaving a cloth that becomes the events of men's lives as it is woven. And there's another one I heard once, or read someplace...." ”

“ Lin watched her leave the room, then turned with a grin to the doctors.
"I'll live," he said confidently. "I'll live. Nothing can kill me now—so long as that sheet of paper remains intact."
He didn't mind at all the way the two men looked at each other with lifted eyebrows.
The door swished open. The nurse came in. "There's a man down in the waiting room who wants to see you, Mr. Grant," she said. "He gave his name as Hugo Fairchild."
Lin frowned. "You sure he wants to see me?" he asked. ”

“ My job is to hide this someplace where Hugo Fairchild can never find it. You can go your way and forget about it."
Dorothy shook her head. "No," she said. "I'm going with you. We'll face this together. I—I couldn't stand the suspense of wondering when Fairchild would catch up with you and get it."
"You'd get used to it," Lin said. "After all, everyone has to die sometime, and no one spends much time worrying about when it will come."
"But this isn't the same," Dorothy said stubbornly. "That man is after it, and when he gets it we'll die. I'm sticking with you—and that piece of paper." ”

“ Lin and Dorothy demanded together.
"He must have tossed that paper into the flame by now, unless he read what was on it," Phil said. He spread his hands apologetically. "You see I knew this couldn't go on forever. The only way to fight the supernatural is to outsmart it, I figured. So I wrote on it. Simple as that. I bore down good too so that if the ink came off, the writing would still be creased in good. On the theory that whatever was on that paper would come true when it got burned." ”

“ Dorothy said. "If it weren't for the fact that my ribs were definitely broken, and I saw that nasty cut on my cheek...."
"You know there's no other explanation," Lin said.
"But how could writing on a piece of paper form reality?" she objected. "It just can't!"
"But it does," Lin said. "What is reality? Scientists have been trying to find out since time began. There could be different kinds of reality. Ours could be subject to the minds of beings on another plane of it. This robot could sit there and write out things that happen, and make them happen here. It has to be that." ”

“ Phil Arnoff said. "You get me on the phone and tell me to rush to town, and you can't wait five minutes. What's the matter? Afraid you'll fall out of love if you don't plunge?"
"We wouldn't have waited for you to get here," Lin said, "only we have to have a witness, they said when we got the license." He looked pleadingly at Dorothy. "Please, honey. Let's skip the church. You don't have to be married in one do you?"
"It's got to be a church," she said. "That's the one thing I've always been certain of."
"Why not?" Phil said. "There's a dozen churches that exist on weddings. ”

“ Dorothy echoed.
"Don't interrupt," Lin said. "You can't possibly understand. I don't myself. So just listen to what happened and what I think it means. It was a moving statue. Like a robot, in a way. But it was more than that. I'm sure of that now. It was, in some way, a god. The god of Fate. It was typing on a typewriter of some sort that had an automatic feed to supply a new sheet of paper every time the old one was yanked out. And beside the typewriter was a wastebasket sort of thing with a flame burning at the bottom. ”

“ We've given this Fairchild the slip now. All we have to do is go away somewhere and he'll never find us."
"He'll be looking," Lin said, "and we'll wake up every morning with the knowledge that this may be the day he finds us." He turned and looked through the rear window of the taxi. "Actually I'm surprised we gave him the slip. I can't understand it."
"You feel that way?" Dorothy said with a shaky laugh. "I do too. He found us in the hospital. I keep thinking he just knows things. You know what I mean."
"He didn't know which one of us took that paper," Lin said. He frowned. ”

“ Fairchild said. "I finally tracked you two down. So you're married now." He slid into the seat Phil had occupied.
"Yes, we're married," Lin said coldly. "And we want to be alone."
"I don't doubt that," Fairchild said. "I don't doubt it at all. I sympathize with you, but I have my job to do, you know."
"I'll bet you sympathize with us," Dorothy said worriedly.
"But I do, really," Fairchild said. "And to prove it I'm going to make you a nice offer. I don't have to, but I can, and I will. Give me the paper and I'll promise not to toss it into the Flame for a whole year. ”

“ He tried to lift an arm. He had to be content with taking it in his fingers while his elbows rested on the bed. With shaking fingers he opened it, and saw the typing that was so different from ordinary typing.
His fingers no longer shook. He folded the sheet of paper and handed it back. "Don't put it back in my billfold," he said. "I want you to take that down to the hospital office and have them put it in an envelope and lock it in the safe. Do you understand? I want that taken care of as though it were worth a million dollars. I don't want anything to happen to it. Do you understand?" ”

“ He paused half way up and looked over the treetops, which sloped gently for several hundred yards, then dropped away. In the far distance was the hazy panorama of a valley with two lakes that were irregular blue splotches on a carpet of greens and browns. ”

“ He came to the bed and pulled down the blankets, and stood there watching Lin move his legs. "Better take it easy until we check with fluoroscopy," he warned. "There's something mighty funny here. I examined the X-ray plates myself. The spinal break was unmistakable!"
Half an hour later Lin was relaxed on the table in the X-ray lab, while a full half dozen doctors studied him through the fluoroscope screen and all talked at once, with every once in a while one of them going to an illuminated plate and tracing what was quite obviously a wide gap in a spinal column. ”

“ He cupped the folded paper in his hand, closing his fingers over it. "There's one or two points I'm not clear on, Lin. You say you grabbed it when it was still in Fate's fingers, and that's when that part tore off? You were able to tear it then. Why can't you now?"
"I don't know," Lin said. "Things are different over there, I guess. It burns over there, too, remember. In that flame."
"Yes, I know," Phil said. "I just—"
A terrified gasp from Dorothy interrupted what he had been about to say. Her eyes were wide and round, and fixed on the entrance across the room.
"Fairchild!" Lin gasped. ”

“ Phil Arnoff said. "What about surgery, serums, and safety devices? They get demonstrable results in saving lives. A man has an enlarged aorta. Ten years ago he would have been a goner. Today he has an operation. They transplant a section of the aorta of a dead person, and he lives another twenty years." ”

“ They found a phone booth and Lin began making calls. The third number was answered by a man with an Irish brogue who blessed them for their eagerness and agreed to perform the ceremony at once.
"Hah!" Lin said when he hung up. "We'd have got along without you okay, Phil. Reverend O'Hara said he has a witness on hand all the time for couples like us."
"I'll trail along anyway," Phil grinned, "What is the rush though? How long have you two known each other?"
"We ran into each other a few days ago," Dorothy said, taking Lin's hand and leading him toward the sidewalk. ”

“ Lin said. Realizing his mistake he hurriedly took out his billfold and handed the man a twenty dollar bill. He turned to Dorothy, not waiting for the thanks he expected.
Phil correctly interpreted the minister's dismayed look and slipped him another ten. "He doesn't realize the overhead ate that up," he whispered. "He doesn't get married very often."
"Oh, I see," Reverend O'Hara whispered.
Phil hurried after Lin and Dorothy, catching up with them just outside the front entrance.
"Now," he said grimly as they got into the taxi again, "you want to be alone. ”

“ The man's hand seized it and jerked it from the machine, dropping it into the flame in the wire wastebasket.
And from some automatic feed a new sheet came into view on the platen, and the man continued his typing, his fingers moving with great rapidity and without letup.
Lin straightened and stepped back a bit so as not to startle the man. He coughed loudly and said, "Hello, there."
The rhythm of the man's typing didn't vary. He gave no indication of having heard.
Slightly annoyed, Lin reached out and tapped him firmly on the shoulder. Still no result. ”

“ Lin said grimly. "Then listen to this. You remember when we were about to hit? A fraction of a second before the crash? At that precise instant when you were staring at me reproachfully I suddenly found myself in—I don't know where it was, but I know it wasn't on this earth. I followed a path up to a high tablerock overlooking an immense valley, and there on that high perch was a statue."
"A statue?" ”